Tourniquet-equipped garment



Feb. 22, 1955 G. G. HOBSON TOURNIQUET-EQUIPPED GARMENT Filed July 19, 1951 INVENTOR 'ardon &' 12 05507? ATTORNEY United States Patent TOURNIQUET-EQUIPPED GARMENT Gordon G. Hobson, Columbus, Ohio, assignor of onetenth to Edward P. Tice, Jr., Bexley, one-tenth to Paul P. Lechner, Jr., and twenty-five and one-half per cent to Wayne L. Lewis, both of Columbus, one-tenth to Howard W. Kraft, Upper Arlington, twenty-five and one-half per cent to Don C. Hanover, Jr., Fostoria, and nine per cent to Dewey A. Sheidler, Washington Court House, Ohio Application July 19, 1951, Serial No. 237,607

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-327) This invention relates to wearing apparel, and particularly to garments or uniforms worn by persons engaged in hazardous occupations, for example, those engaged as combat personnel in military activities, in building, contracting, or engineering fields by geologists, explorers, and many other participating in occupations wherein physical hazards and injuries to the limbs may readily occur.

Often when a person sustains a severe laceration to a limb causing loss of blood, the timely application of a tourniquet to the injured body extremity will arrest hemorrhaging conditions and prevent possible loss of life. The problem usually involved is to apply, with a minimum loss of time, an effective tourniquet between the bleeding wound and the heart of the injured person, to thereby arrest the flow of blood to the wound. Usually, the application of a tourniquet requires the services of a person other than the injured person, with a resultant period of undesirable, and oftentimes dangerous, delay in arresting the flow of blood from a wound. Also, it often occurs, particularly in case of combat personnel, that a person wounded in an arm or leg may not immediately be reached by other persons who might otherwise attend the injured party and apply the necessary tourniquet, and in many cases the wounded person himself does not have sufficient time or strength to remove a tourniquet from a kit, if the same be available, or to improvise a tourniquet, and properly apply the same in time to stop profuse bleeding. However, in a greater majority of cases, persons wounded in an arm or leg and not rendered unconscious would have suflicient strength to apply the necessary tensioning forces to a tourniquet if the same were available and in the proper position for twisting.

Therefore, to remove the possibility of a lack of tourniquet facilities at the time of an accident, and to enable an effective tourniquet to be applied by the injured person himself with the least possible delay in arresting hemorrhaging, the present invention provides a garment or uniform having arm and leg portions on which are embodied, as component parts thereof, tourniquet-forming bands, tapes, or straps, the latter forming exteriorly accessible actuating loops in each of which a twisting impelment or lever may be positioned and operated to produce contraction of the bands circumferentially, with resultant application of compression forces to the injured extremity in a manner restricting blood flow to a hemorrhaging wound.

Among the objects of the invention are: To provide a utility garment or uniform having tourniquet-forming bands or straps permanently incorporated on the arm and leg-receiving regions thereof; to provide a garment of this character in which the tourniquets thereon may be applied by the wearer of the garment, as well as by others; to provide a tourniquet-containing garment which may be worn in the same manner as a conventional garment under ordinary conditions, without offering interference to, or impeding normal movement of the wearer; to provide a practical, simple, and low-cost garment in which provisional tourniquets are provided onthe upper sleeve and leg regions thereof and in a manner to be readily accessible for use in case of injury to the limbs of the wearer.

For a further understanding of the invention, refermay be worn or carried by combat personnel.

2,702,551 Patented Feb. 22, 1955 ence is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view disclosing a tourniquetequipped garment formed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view disclosing the tourniquet carried on one of the arms of the garment, and a twisting implement-inserted in the loop member of the tourniquet in a position to effect circumferential contraction thereof;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the arm portion of the garment and disclosing my improved tourniquet construction in top plan;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a twisting implement inserted in the loop of the tourniquet;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view setting forth a modified form of the invention in which the main portion of each tourniquet of the garment is arranged within the confines of the garment in a concealed position; and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of a further modified form of the present built-in tourniquet.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates a garment of the type worn by combat personnel of military organizations, although it will be understood that the invention is generally applicable to outer garments or wearing apparel worn by persons engaged in many different and normally hazardous occupations. For purposes of illustration, the garment 2 is of one-piece construction having trouser legs 3 and sleeves 4.

.ln accordance with the present invention, the sleeeves and legs of the garment have secured in generally concentric relation thereto, approximately a hands width below the armpit and crotch regions of the garment, arm tourniquets 5 and leg tourniquets 6. Preferably, the tourniquets 5 and 6 may comprise bands, straps or tapes of relatively strong, nonelastic, yet flexible fabric or leather material which are relatively flat and possess a width of approximately 2 inches. The tourniquets 5 and 6 may be secured to the sleeve and leg portions of the garment in any suitable manner, such as by sewing the same directly to the garment as shown, with the tourniquet normally assuming the configuration and size of the sleeve and leg portions of the garment.

As shown in Figs. 2-5 of the drawing, the respective ends of the tourniquet bands 5 and 6 are overlapped and stitched securely together, at relatively spaced intervals as at 7, to permanently join the overlapped ends and to form closed and relatively fiat loops or eyelets 8 which are disposed at the outer sides of the sleeve and trouser portions of the uniform. These loops are adapted for the reception of a suitable lever-type twisting instrumentality, such as that indicated at 9 in the drawing, for example, a bayonet, a stick, or a rifle barrel, or any elongated rigid shaft-like instrumentality, suchA as y available twisting device may be used in this regard. When the implement 9 is inserted between the webs of the tourniquet defining the loop 8 and rotated in either direction, the same serves to contract the tourniquet and the sleeve or leg portion of the garment to apply pressure to the arm and leg portions of the person wearing the uniform.

It will be understood that the tourniquet-forming webs, bands, tapes, or straps are preferably sewed into the uniform or other garment at the time of its manufacture. This is done in order that combat personnel, if Wounded in the lower arms or legs, may immediately apply their own tourniquets without aid from medical corpsmen, and thereby arrest profuse bleeding until more permanent first aid may be given. Time is usually essential in stopping the flow of blood from a wound, and by providing the built-in tourniquets of the present invention, which are disposed permanently within the uniform itself, it becomes unnecessary for a wounded or injured man to first open a kit and thereafter remove and apply to tourniquet to the desired area. Also, so long as the injured person has the use of one arm and hand, he may apply the tourniquet, which otherwise would normally require the use of two hands in removing the same from a kit and applying it to the desired pressure area. Simply by inserting a suitable and readily available lever within the appropriate loop 8 and twisting the same, sufiicient pressure may be applied to arrest hemorrhaging at any limb. 1

In the form of the invention disclosed in Figs. 1-4, the tourniquet-forming bands are disposed on the exterior surfaces of the arm and leg portions of the uniform to which they are applied. If desired, as shown in Fig. 5, the major portions of such tourniquet bands may be arranged within the confines of the sleeves or legs so as to be concealed from view, with only the overlapping end portions defining the loops or eyelets 8 projecting outwardly through suitable slots or openings formed in the garment. This is done in order that the loops may be conveniently accessible.

Fig. 6 of the drawing illustrates a relatively simplified embodiment of the present invention, wherein a relatively short length strap, tape, or web 10 is securely stitched at its respective ends, as at 11, directly to the sleeve and leg portions of the garment in a manner to merely define a fiat loop or eyelet 12 with the outer surface of the garment. This form of the invention may be used to advantage in connection with garments made from inherently strong fabrics or material capable of withstanding the relatively large amount of strain imparted thereto, upon the insertion of a lever within the loop 12 and thereafter rotating or twisting the same, without tearing. However, the continuous band-type of tourniquet, as illustrated in Figs. 1 through 5, is believed to be preferable for use in connection with ordinary fabrics and provides a margin of safety against the possibility of tearing of the garment at the critical pressure areas.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a highly useful and eificient safety device in the form of a tourniquet-equipped garment or uniform to be worn by combat personnel or other persons engaged in occupations presenting hazard and likelihood of injury to the limbs or body extremities. The tourniquet bands or straps of the present invention may be easily and economically incorporated into the usual combat uniform or other garment at the time of manufacture, or may if desired, be installed or aflixed to a uniform at any time when its desirability may be foreseen. When operatively installed, the tourniquet-forming bands or straps may be positioned and arranged so as to prevent impairment to normal movement and to conform to the normal configuration of the sleeve and leg portions of the uniform when the tourniquet is not in actual use.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be understood that the same is subject to modification as to constructional details and design without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a combat uniform having arm and leg-receiving portions; an elongated tourniquet-forming web of strong flexible material secured to and encircling each of the arm and leg receiving portions of the uniform a distance below the armpit and crotch regions thereof, said web having overlapping end portions permanently secured to one another at relatively spaced intervals and defining a closed loop through which a lever may be inserted and rotated to twist said web and thereby apply compressive forces to an arm or leg of a person wearing said uniform.

2. The combination with a garment having a limbreceiving portion, of a flexible, nonelastic, tourniquetforming web sewn to the limb-receiving portion of said garment in a position to encircle the upper part of the limb of a wearer of said garment, said Web having relatively overlapping end portions permanently secured to one another at relatively spaced intervals and disposed exteriorly of the limb-receiving portion of said garment, the overlapping end portions of said web defining a closed loop through which a lever may be inserted and rotated to twist said web and thereby apply compressive forces to the limb of a person positioned in the limb-receiving portion of said garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,987,838 Miller Ian. 15, 1935 2,388,717 Talbott et al Nov. 13, 1945 2,390,077 De Grazia Dec. 4, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 691,432 Germany May 27, 1940 

